Thursday, 2 October 2014

The legendary Johnny Marr releases his second solo album and follow up to 'The Messenger' on Monday October 6th.

'Playland' is a collection of eleven songs of Indie-Rock heaven that carries straight on from where 'The Messenger' left off. You need it in your life and in your ears right now so let's get straight to it.

You can listen to the complete album now HERE and then, while you're listening, head straight over to Johnny's official website and pre-order it HERE.

Oh! did I mention that Johnny is about to start a UK tour? Details and tickets HERE

Sunday, 3 August 2014

James next single release will be "Curse Curse" from their latest amazing album "La Petite Mort" (buy it HERE), and the band are offering you (yes, YOU) the chance to remix the song and have your version issued as part of the release. Go on, give it a go.....

On June 15th this year, Tom Robinson had the whole of James in the studio for a "Tweet in" / Fan lead session. An amazing idea that, in my opinion, should be repeated both by James elsewhere and by Tom on future shows.

Saturday, 19 April 2014

To me a record shop isn't a "specialist" shop , or a thrift store either, it's just a kind of shop, a very important kind of shop. Record shops were meeting places where you learnt about music, clothes, style and clubs. Everyone in my town who was interesting was in the record shop at some point.

There's so much talk about the death of vinyl versus the download boom as if we all fled away from records because we love our iPods too much, but that isn't exactly the whole story.

One of the main reasons why vinyl sales have declined is because when we walk down our streets we don't see any. The greed of local councils and lease owning landlords has meant that our towns and cities have replaced the record shops (and clothes shops) we all liked with over priced sandwich shops and Bistro Bars.

All through the nineties stores that were rented and run by enthusiasts of say, photography and cameras, as well as music, got totally priced out of their premises and livelihoods, and our culture, by councils and landlords with The Next Quid and Starbucks Dollar in their eyes, it wasn't all the fault of The Megabyte and Pixel, and now what's left ?, high streets that are so expensive to rent that only the richest, and therefore blandest of commercial giants can afford to ride out the recession there; bad news for us, especially if you want a great piece of cultural art, which is what a record actually is.

Record stores aren't selling quirky old artifacts. We're starting to think of them as quirky and specialist because our greedy high street culture has told us that's the case.

If they were able to function as commercial premises on our streets then the stuff they sell would flourish, and that doesn't mean ditching our beloved iPods, It just means owning a great piece of work by our favourite band with a piece of real art on the cover, and something that actually sounds good too. Not bad for the price of two Lattes.

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Oasis's classic 1994 debut album 'Definitely Maybe' will be reissued to mark its 20th anniversary this May. A remastered version of the Manchester band's LP will be released on May 19 and will include rare and unreleased recordings. The reissue is the first in the new Chasing The Sun series from Big Brother Recordings, with Oasis's follow-up albums 'What's The Story (Morning Glory)?' and 'Be Here Now' to also be re-issued later this year. The 20th anniversary edition of 'Definitely Maybe' will be available as a standard CD and digital download of the original album, a three-disc Special Edition version including the rare recordings and demos, a 12" vinyl LP featuring all the bonus CD content as a free download, and a Deluxe Box Set which features the LP and the CDs. It has also been revealed that the band will re-issue their single 'Supersonic' as a 12" vinyl to coincide with this year's Record Store Day on April 19. Among the bonus content included in the reissue is a disc featuring the band's stand-alone single 'Whatever', unheard acoustic versions of the tracks 'Live Forever' and 'Shakermaker' recorded in Paris, an early demo of 'Half The World Away' recorded in Noel Gallagher's Tokyo hotel room, a demo of the extremely rare song 'Strange Thing' and a live recording of 'Sad Song' show at Manchester Academy. Limited edition cassette replicas of the band's rare 'Original 1993 Demos', meanwhile, are now available from www.oasisnet.com, including new sleeve notes from 'Definitely Maybe' producer Mark Coyle. Only eight copies of the original demo tapes were made. For a special report on the 'Definitely Maybe' re-issue and a behind-the-scenes account of the making of the album, pick up the new issue of NME, which is on newsstands from today (February 26) and available digitallyThe tracklisting for the three-disc Special Edition re-issue of 'Definitely Maybe' is as follows:Disc 11. 'Rock'n'Roll Star' 2. 'Shakermaker' 3. 'Live Forever' 4. 'Up In The Sky' 5. 'Columbia' 6. 'Supersonic' 7. 'Bring It On Down' 8. 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' 9. 'Digsy's Dinner' 10. 'Slide Away' 11. 'Married With Children'Disc 21. 'Columbia' (White Label Demo) 2. 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' (Demo) 3. 'Sad Song' 4. 'I Will Believe' (Live) 5. 'Take Me Away' 6. 'Alive' (Demo) 7. 'D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?' 8. 'Supersonic' (Live) 9. 'Up In The Sky' (Acoustic) 10. 'Cloudburst' 11. 'Fade Away' 12. 'Listen Up' 13. 'I Am The Walrus' (Live Glasgow Cathouse June 1994) 14. 'Whatever' 15. '(It's Good) To Be Free' 16. 'Half The World Away'Disc 31. 'Supersonic' (Live At Glasgow Tramshed) 2. 'Rock'N'Roll Star' (Demo) 3. 'Shakermaker' (Live Paris in-store) 4. 'Columbia' (Eden Studios Mix) 5. 'Cloudburst' (Demo) 6. 'Strange Thing' (Demo) 7. 'Live Forever' (Live Paris in-store) 8. 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' (Live At Manchester Academy) 9. 'D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?' (Live At Manchester Academy) 10.'Fade Away' (Demo) 11. 'Take Me Away' (Live At Manchester Academy) 12. 'Sad Song' (Live At Manchester Academy) 13. 'Half The World Away' (Live, Tokyo hotel room) 14. 'Digsy's Dinner' (Live, Paris in-store) 15. 'Married With Children' (Demo) 16. 'Up In The Sky' (Live Paris in-store) 17. 'Whatever' (Strings)The tracklisting for the 'Original 1993 Demos', meanwhile, is as follows:Side One'Cloudburst' 'Columbia' 'D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?' 'Strange Thing'Side Two'Bring It On Down' 'Married With Children' 'Fade Away' 'Rock'N'Roll Star'

Oasis' classic 1994 debut album 'Definitely Maybe' will be reissued to mark its 20th anniversary this May.

A remastered version of the Manchester band's LP will be released on May 19 and will include rare and unreleased recordings. The reissue is the first in the new Chasing The Sun series from Big Brother Recordings, with Oasis's follow-up albums 'What's The Story (Morning Glory)?' and 'Be Here Now' to also be re-issued later this year.

The 20th anniversary edition of 'Definitely Maybe' will be available as a standard CD and digital download of the original album, a three-disc Special Edition version including the rare recordings and demos, a 12" vinyl LP featuring all the bonus CD content as a free download, and a Deluxe Box Set which features the LP and the CDs. It has also been revealed that the band will re-issue their single 'Supersonic' as a 12" vinyl to coincide with this year's Record Store Day on April 19.

Among the bonus content included in the reissue is a disc featuring the band's stand-alone single 'Whatever', unheard acoustic versions of the tracks 'Live Forever' and 'Shakermaker' recorded in Paris, an early demo of 'Half The World Away' recorded in Noel Gallagher's Tokyo hotel room, a demo of the extremely rare song 'Strange Thing' and a live recording of 'Sad Song' show at Manchester Academy.

Limited edition cassette replicas of the band's rare 'Original 1993 Demos', meanwhile, are now available from www.oasisinet.com, including new sleeve notes from 'Definitely Maybe' producer Mark Coyle. Only eight copies of the original demo tapes were made.

For a special report on the 'Definitely Maybe' re-issue and a behind-the-scenes account of the making of the album, pick up the new issue of NME, which is on newsstands from today (February 26) and available digitally

The tracklisting for the three-disc Special Edition re-issue of 'Definitely Maybe' is as follows:

Friday, 14 February 2014

Every now and then I stumble across a band that has been around for a couple of years who up to that point I've managed to miss completely. On every occasion that this has happened, I've not understood why this band hasn't already taken over the world.

One such band are The Clocktower.

Formed as a three piece in Wolverhampton in 2009 - Ryan Evans on Vocals & Guitars, Ian Dowdeswell on Backing Vocals & Guitars and Connor Dowdeswell on Drums, they were later joined by Andy O'Brien on Bass. Andy who was formerly a solo singer/songwriter and promoter has just this week left the band to pursue his solo work so watch out for more from him in the coming months.

The Clocktower are already one amazing album into their career having released their debut in 2012. Produced by fast emerging Midlands producer Ryan Pinson, "The Days Of Rosey Row" is 12 tracks of pure Indie Rock 'n Roll heaven. The band's influences are apparent but not plagiarised. Their songs, written by both Ryan and Ian, have their own character. They are well crafted and very well executed.

Ryan is a natural frontman and the band are confident live. They should be. When you've got the songs and you know how good you are then the more you project that onto your audience the better. "You believe and they will believe in you!" as some clever man once said. (or did I just make that up to finish this paragraph.) Either way, you get my point. The Clocktower have got it and they are eventually gonna' give it to you. Like it or not!

The first release since ...Rosey Row is the 3 track EP "Skip It Up Fandango", "Feel The Highs Feed The lows" and the absolutely charming "Take A Chill Pill". All three tracks continue and raise the quality of the album and the band are in the studio right now working on more new material.

I predict great things for The Clocktower. They deserve it and they are constantly working towards it.

Saturday, 25 January 2014

Almost 20 years after their last album, it's looking like Slowdive may be about to announce a reunion. The band members have been Tweeeting a countdown in the last few days leading up to an announcement on January 29th, with the band itself launching it's own official Twitter and Instagram profiles. A web site has also appeared but content is yet to be added.

I may just be being hopeful here but the fact that Brushfire Records seem to be involved may suggest new material. Fingers crossed.

Next month, Morrissey will begin recording his first full length album since 2009's Years of Refusal. The former Smiths frontman has signed a two-album deal with Harvest Records and Capitol Music.

Joe Chiccarelli, who has helmed recordings for Alanis Morissette and the Strokes, will produce the new album. It will feature the same backing band that accompanied Moz on Years of Refusal, with the addition of a new pianist, and they will begin recording in France on February 1st.

Although Morrissey has been performing new songs over the past few years, he has maintained that he did not want to self-release his music. Regarding that decision, he told The Village Voice in 2012 – with a hearty helping of his usual dry wit – "I'm independent enough without selling CDs out of the back of a van."

Earlier this month, the singer revealed that he was working on two projects: a novel and a new album. He let the news slip when an interviewer asked him about a gig he had played in Istanbul. "Well, we are about to record our new album, and one of the tracks is called 'Istanbul,'" he said. "It is second to Rome as my most favorite city in the world. When I'm in Istanbul, I feel as if I could never die. My life is matched."

As for the new book, Morrissey said a novel was inevitable, given the reception he'd gotten for his Autobiography. "In 2013 I published my Autobiography and it has been more successful than any record I have ever released, so, yes, I am midway through my novel," he posted on True to You. "I have my hopes."

Before either the book or the new album come out, though, Morrissey will put out a deluxe reissue of his 1992 LP, Your Arsenal, on February 25th.